Legal Highs (NPS)

Legal Highs are the name most people use for ‘New Psychoactive substances’, products that are sold to be used like illegal drugs. NPS are chemical blends of substances that are sold to the public. Many of the substances used have unknown effects on the body and mixing two or more NPS can create new chemicals within the body that can have even more dangerous effects. The more traditional party drugs that have been around for longer have been studied and many of the effects are known, more importantly many of the medical treatments for these drugs are also known.

The medical treatments for users admitted to hospital having used NPS are unknown. Doctors, nurses and paramedics can only make the best of a bad situation to try and stabilize the patient.

NPS are sold in packets that say ‘RESEARCH CHEMICALS’ or ‘NOT FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION’, this allows them to be sold in shops but both warning are still true. They are unfit for human consumption and are usually psychedelics or sedatives. The street name of ‘Legal High’ makes many users think that they are taking a safe drug, this is totally untrue.

The main effects of legal drugs can be classified into three major categories.